Beech star’s pledge to be ‘Hurd’ for months

Jalen Hurd’s recent decision to commit to Tennessee will likely have an impact beyond the talent he promises to bring to Neyland Stadium in the fall of 2014.

By announcing so early, the Beech running back — arguably the nation’s top player at his position in the upcoming recruiting class — could sway other recruits to join him in Butch Jones’ second UT class.

Not long after Hurd announced on Thursday morning, the Volunteers picked up another commitment from Georgia running back Treyvon Paulk. Previously, UT had commitments from Independence receiver/returner Vic Wharton III, Virginia lineman Coleman Thomas and a pair of ‘legacies’ — Knoxville Webb safety Todd Kelly Jr. and Maryland receiver Neiko Creamer. Both are sons of former Vols, Todd Kelly and Andre Creamer.

Hurd’s commitment takes on added importance locally, as the current class of juniors could be one of the most talented group of in-state recruits in some time.

“Alex Bars has got to be a priority,” 247sports.com recruiting analyst Barton Simmons said, referring to the Montgomery Bell Academy lineman who has nearly 25 offers already. “Rashaan Gaulden visited this weekend. And probably Josh Malone is as big a target as anybody. If you’re looking at big splashes in the state, he’s probably the guy you look to next.”

Gaulden, who played linebacker as a sophomore at Brentwood Academy, will play safety at Independence this fall and projects there collegiately. Malone is a receiver at Station Camp.

“They’ve got a pretty solid group, but certainly Jalen and Todd are the key pieces at this point,” Simmons said.”It’s been a strong year in-state with this class. Butch Jones said he was going to take back the state, and you can’t make a much bigger, much louder statement than he’s been able to make with Jalen Hurd and Todd Kelly, in living up to that talk.”

Hurd legitimizes Jones’ ability to recruit Southeastern Conference-caliber performers — an issue for some at the time of his hiring after head coaching stints at Cincinnati and Central Michigan, and again after he and his staff weren’t able to close the gap on Georgia standout defensive back Vonn Bell last month. Bell signed with Ohio State.

“Particularly with him being a kid from Chattanooga (Ridgeland is in Rossville, just across the state line), there was some worry there — ‘you can talk all you want, but you missed on the best guy in-state last year’,” Simmons said. “This silences those doubts pretty quickly.

“Jalen is probably a bigger recruit even than Vonn Bell, being the leading single-season rusher in the state.”

With 3,357 yards, Hurd broke the record of 3,068 set in 2011 by Powell’s Dy’Shawn Mobley.

“They really need a running back,” Simmons said. “They got one this last class and they would like to have gotten two or three, and they respond this year with getting arguably the top running back in the country, the No. 2 running back in the nation on 247sports (behind Leonard Fournette of New Orleans St. Augustine).

“He’s the bell cow in the state of Tennessee. If you make out your wish list, it starts with Jalen Hurd if you’re Butch Jones.”

And while plenty of heralded high school players don’t have quite the impact at the next level that is expected, Beech coach Anthony Crabtree doesn’t expect that to be the case with Hurd.

“I think his chances for being successful are extremely good,” Crabtree said. “No. 1, I think his size and his speed are something that we definitely don’t see every day in Middle Tennessee, but on top of that he has a great work ethic, he has a great football IQ, he understands the game, he’s determined, he knows what he wants to do, he somewhat understands what it’s going to take to get it done.

“I don’t think you can ever fully explain to a kid what it’s going to be like when they get to college until they get there and experience it, but I don’t think there’s any question he’s going to be a successful SEC football player.”